


The Answer

by Narcissisticpeacock



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Chloe is forced to see ways her life could play out without Nadine, F/F, Mentions of Alcohol Abuse, References to Bioshock, References to Depression, Travel between Dimensions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-06
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2020-04-07 14:02:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19086529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narcissisticpeacock/pseuds/Narcissisticpeacock
Summary: Chloe doesn't like where she is, but she has a chance to see where she's going. But to her, there's only one right path; the one with Nadine. She needs to find the answer in order to find that path.





	The Answer

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what recesses of my mind this came from, but this is sorta a crossover with Bioshock, but Bioshock Infinite made it impossible to have a universe that didn't have a connection to it. Elizabeth exists in literally ever universe.  
> But for those who don't know, Elizabeth has the ability to open portals between universes and time periods. In the game, you choose the bird or the cage. Terrifying freedom? Or guilded cage?  
> Anyway, I wanted to have Chloe explore different timelines. So I made it happen.

Chloe opens her eyes and swears. Her head is killing her. It feels like someone has cracked her skull open and mixed her brains around with a whisk.

She realizes she's laying on her stomach, cheek pressed to the cold stone of the floor. With a groan, she pushes herself up.

She has no idea where she is.

It’s a hallway of some sort. Ahead of her is a long stretch of floor walled in by tall stone walls. There’s light in the distance. Behind her is another stone wall, with a heavy metal door. There’s no handle.

“Alright. Guess there’s no going back.”

Chloe looks herself over, a habit mostly drilled into her by Nadine. No broken bones, no cuts or bruises. She’s in fine health. But now she’s more concerned with how the hell she got here and where the hell Nadine is. The last thing she remembers was reaching for… what was it? Treasure of some sort, right? She can’t remember clearly. But Nadine had been right beside her.

“Nadine?” Chloe calls out.

Her voice echoes down the hall. It’s lonely and empty here.

She looks up, wondering if there might be somewhere to climb. The ceiling is high above her and featureless.

Only one way to go. Forward.

Her footsteps echo around her no matter how softly she steps. The hallway seems nearly endless, but she reaches the source of the light.

The room is a large circle covered in doors.  Hanging from the ceiling is a chandelier covered in candles.

She glances behind her and starts. The hallway is gone, replaced with a dark door that, once more, has no handle.

“What the hell is going on?”

Again, there’s no answer but the echo of her own voice.

At a loss, Chloe wanders the edge of the circle. The doors are all closed. Chloe reaches for the one beside the door with no handle. It refuses to budge. As does the next. She turns around and again things have changed.

The door directly across from the vanished hallway is opening. It opens slowly with a long drawn out creak, almost as if it’s trying to get her attention.

Chloe walks up to it. “Think this through,” she mumbles to herself. “Nadine is always saying you need to think before you act, make her proud and be careful, damnit.”

All of that leaves her mind when she sees her partner on the other side of the door. Nadine Ross, standing at a desk and looking through papers, is right there. She can get through this if she has Nadine with her.

Chloe dashes forward. As she passes through the door, it feels like she’s just pushed her way through a membrane of some sort. She stumbles, but then she’s in the same room as Nadine and nothing else matters.

“Nadine!” she exclaims.

Nadine starts but composes herself when she sees Chloe. “I’m sorry, did you have an appointment today?”

That throws Chloe off. “I-- what?”

“I wasn’t aware anyone had made an appointment for today.” Nadine is acting professionally. Almost as though she doesn’t know Chloe. “Were you looking to employ Shoreline for protection or otherwise?”

Shoreline? What the hell is she talking about?

“I thought-- I thought Shoreline was done. That you were done with it.”

A flicker of annoyance passes over Nadine’s face. “I dealt with the... _Upstarts_ that attempted to take my company from me. The ranks have been weeded out. My company is my own.”

“Nadine, I-- you know me. I promise that.”

Nadine looks at her, confused. “Ma’am, I’ve never met you before. If you don’t have an appointment or need to hire any part of Shoreline, I’d ask that you leave.”

Chloe stands at a loss. “China, you don’t… you really don’t remember me?”

Nadine raises an eyebrow. “I don’t.”

She has no idea to react. She’s spent the better part of the last six months with this woman and now… what’s happening? Why doesn’t Nadine know who she is? And why is Shoreline back?

Nadine approaches her then, but rather than any of the soft exchanges they’ve had lately, she guides Chloe towards the door. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but unless you have need of private military, you need to leave.”

Chloe tries to stay, but Nadine has always been stronger than her. “Nadine, please, listen--” She’s urged through the door.

All at once, she’s standing back in the circular room in silence. Realizing what’s happened, she whips around, intending to go back to Nadine, insist they know each other, get Nadine to remember her, goddamnit! But she just slams into the closed door. It doesn’t even shake at the impact. The handle is gone from it, like the door back into the hallway.

Chloe bangs on it with the sides of her fist, calling Nadine’s name. “Nadine, please! We’re partners, we know each other! Please!”

The pounding on the door is useless.

Chloe wants to cry. Nadine is her partner, her best friend; she’s everything that’s kept Chloe going lately. There’s very little that can hurt her if she’s got Nadine at her side.

But Nadine doesn’t know who she is.

It hurts more than she could imagine. Nadine is so much to her and the fact she could… that she's been forgotten… It's a sharp pain in her chest, like a needle through her heart.

Chloe wants to give up and feel sorry for herself, but she won't. She's stubborn. She'll keep going.

But what’s she supposed to do now? If she can’t march back in there and be (righteously) angry that Nadine has forgotten her and all of these doors are closed, where is she supposed to go?

She realizes other doors have opened.

Well, a single other door has opened. It’s a few doors to the left of the one she’s just been kicked out of. Unlike that one, the new door carries very little behind it. It’s just a dark room with what seems to be a counter just in view.

She has nowhere else to go. May as well try this door. With any luck, she can find Nadine again. If she’s really lucky, Nadine will remember who she is.

Where the hell is she anyway?

Again, Chloe hits the sensation of passing through something.

The air on the other side of the door is stagnant. It takes a moment for her eyes to adjust, but she finds herself standing in a small apartment.

“Well, well, well. What have we here?”

The voice sounds… familiar.

She finds its owner sitting at a dark table in the corner.

A woman, by the looks, with graying hair and wrinkles around her dusty grey eyes. She’s older than Chloe by more than a decade at least. Clasped in one hand is a half-full glass of whiskey. She looks amused but… sad.

Chloe realizes this is an older version of herself.

What in ever loving fuck is going on?

"Ah, you've realized. Well, what do you think? Have we aged well?"

Chloe sort of wants to throw up.

"How is this happening?"

The older her just chuckles and sips her drink. "I've got an answer, but you won't like it."

Chloe doesn't like anything that's happening so far. Why would the answer be different?

"Regardless, I'd like to know. I don't bloody understand what's going on-- Nadine doesn't remember me. And now I'm looking at, at _me_." She huffs. "Better be a good explanation too."

Older Chloe takes another sip of her whiskey before setting down her glass. "You're being punished, as far as I can tell. Just like I was so long ago." She shrugs and leans back in her chair. "You were after that necklace. A bird. Or maybe a cage? And you can't quite remember the last owner's name. Eleanor? Elizabeth? Hell, it might even be Anna. But nonetheless, here you are, and Nadine doesn't remember you. She kicked you out of her _Shoreline_ office. And you're still trapped in that damn circle of doors and trying to find your way out." She goes back to her whiskey for a few moments. Once the glass is back on the table, she shrugs. "But that's only the half if it, I suppose. You're being allowed to see into other realities. Ones with and without Nadine remembering you. All you have to do is find out how to get her to remember you. The answer. Maybe there's some key phrase you need to say. If you can't get her to remember you… there's the choice of whether you remember her."

Chloe still doesn't understand. But she remembers now, reaching for that necklace. Nadine had been just behind her. That necklace-- no more than a broach on a piece of ribbon, had been rumoured to have powers. It'd taken so long to track down. And she really can't remember whether it'd had a bird on it or a cage.

And what's all this about getting Nadine to remember her? What’s she supposed to say? And with the door to Nadine locked shut...

This older version is right. She is stuck.

"What am I supposed to even do? This was the only open door back there."

"Keep wandering. See, I made the wrong choice. But it doesn't mean you will. But step through a few doors, get some information, and try to make a better choice than I did. Maybe even fix things. After all, you've got time."

Chloe is looking around the room as she listens. She's noticed there's barely any picture frames, no trinkets, nothing that her own place has outside of this… happenstance.

"Where's Nadine?" she asks, skipping past the lack of personality in the room. Her own apartment, her present-day one, is covered in photos of her friends and places she's been. Nadine has been taking over the wall since India. A photo of her here, another there… Why doesn't this older version of her have any of that? If this really is an older version of her, she’s got to have Nadine, right?

The old Chloe frowns, her lips becoming a grim line. "I told you. I made the wrong choice. You won't find her here."

Now Chloe is _really_ nauseous. "What do you mean?"

"She forgot me. And I couldn't figure out how to fix it. So… I didn't get to have her around after that. Things were… reset. I remember her, but she doesn't even find my face familiar, yeah?" She downs the rest of her whiskey like a shot and pours more into her glass. "Pointless," comes the mutter.

"What do you mean-- I can't-- why didn't you fight? Reintroduce yourself, hire her for another job, or, or… Tinder or something?" Nadine is the one things Chloe refuses to lose. Nadine gives her warmth, security, a sense of ease she doesn't have around others. Losing her would be tantamount to losing half of herself.

Another chuckle leaves the older of them. It's darker this time. "I tried, kid. More times than I'd care to admit."

"Then what happened?!"

"Well, I got one response from her, accepting a job I had."

"And?"

"She died. Before I could even see her again. Murdered by one of the assholes she kicked out of Shoreline for supporting Orca." The older Chloe seems like she has tears in her eyes, but it might just be a trick of the light. "She died and… I don't know. But she's dead."

Chloe gulps. She feels lightheaded. This is her future? This is where she'll end up?

"Take a seat," her older self orders. "There's a bin behind you if you're going to be sick."

Chloe manages to keep from throwing up, but she collapses into the empty chair. "She-- She can't be dead."

"She isn't. Not for you. You aren't an old alcoholic in a dark room. You're still young enough to stop _me_ from existing."

Chloe knits her brow. "Alcoholic?"

"Didn't start that way. No, it started with me coming to terms with Nadine forgetting me. And then trying to meet her again. And then her funeral… after that, everything was boring. Jobs, dates, anything in between. Hell, I barely care about sex anymore. It started with a drink or two... Before long, it reached the point where I can't go more than a few hours without some sort of alcohol."

Chloe scowls. She wouldn't be this. She wouldn't give up just because she lost one person… would she?

No, she wouldn't. She couldn't. Even, even if Nadine died, something that hurts her to think about, she'd get better after. Eventually. She refuses to think she might stagnate into the woman before her.

"This isn't right. You-- You're not me."

The older her shrugs. "Maybe not. But you're me."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"No, but neither does the information I've given you. Me telling you about the necklace, the name with it. Or that you've got to find out how to get Nadine to remember you. Information I was told when I was in your spot. And if I was in your spot and her in mine, she got the information the same place I did; the old alcoholic in her spot before her. But if we’ve only ever learned the information from our other selves, where did it originate?”

Chloe doesn’t care to think on the paradox. She needs to leave. She needs to get back to Nadine and say whatever the right words are.

“I need to leave,” she says, almost harshly. “How do I get back?”

The older Chloe uses her whiskey glass to indicate the door. “Walk back through the door you came in by.”

Chloe doesn’t hesitate.

“I hope things go better for you,” the old, sad version of her calls.

Silence prevails in the circle of doors.

Was that really her? Old, sad, defeated. Nadine not being around would hurt, but would she really fall that far without the woman around?

And what she’d been told. She’s got to figure out how to get Nadine to remember her.

She chooses to ignore that other thing, that “choosing whether or not to forget Nadine” thing. She’d never choose to purposely forget a woman like Nadine.

Chloe needs to move. Apparently, she has to “keep wandering” to fix this. Which means she likely has to move onto another door. There’s another few open now. The door to Nadine remains shut and without a handle.

She chooses one at random. No thinking, just moving, searching for whatever will fix this damn mess.

The other side of this door is better than the last. The air is fresher. There’s an open window bringing in a cool breeze. There’s a table by the window that’s covered in maps and pens and all sorts of books. Chloe’s familiar with a treasure hunt in progress. That alone makes her feel better than the last room did.

It’s a moment later that someone appears. Another version of her.

This Chloe isn’t as old as the last, but she’s just as different.

She’s got a nasty scar on her right shoulder as if a blade had chopped into her. It’s showed off by her loose pajama shirt, hanging from the edge of her shoulders. That’s not the only thing chopped: her hair is mostly gone. She’s got a stylish undercut, a few greys streaking through it.

Clasped in her hands is a steaming mug of tea.

At least it’s not whiskey.

“Oh,” the other her says. “Suppose it’s about time. Want some tea?”

Chloe denies the tea, but she takes a seat at the table, across from the older her. She’s right to business, what’s important to her.

“Where’s Nadine?”

The older Chloe blinks. “Who?”

That feels worse than hearing Nadine is dead. Did she really choose a door that brought her to that horror? Forgetting Nadine? She’s already decided she will never purposely forget her. She’d have to be forced to.

“You… forgot her.”

“Forgot who?”

Chloe frowns. She’s almost angry about it. “Nadine Ross. Strong, beautiful, the goddamn reason a warlord didn’t kill you-- well, us-- in India?”

Almost casually, the older Chloe sips from her tea. “No idea who you’re talking about.”

This is… not good. There shouldn’t be any form of Chloe that can’t remember her best friend. And maybe she’s too attached, but she’s not sure where she would be without Nadine. And being shown it, her state of mind, her state of being, it’s not what she wants. She wants to be back with Nadine.

“I think that’s the problem.” Chloe clenches her fist on the table. “How did you… what have you been doing? Since getting the tusk?”

Even that seems to confuse this Chloe. “The Tusk of Ghanesh? The thing dad threw his life away for?”

And that, that _really_ annoys Chloe. Her father didn’t “throw his life away”. He was trying to find something that linked them to their past, the ancestry she was raised away from. If anything, it’s solidified who she is, the person she’s become. She's proud of her Indian heritage; she's proud of who she's become since that train. Who is this now, in front of her, if she hasn't gone through that ordeal?

"Alright… what's happened, since… since Sam came back? Since Nate and he had that whole ordeal with Rafe?"

"Jesus, that was forever ago. Well… had a few jobs here and there. Got this--" She taps her scarred shoulder. "A year or two later." She stretches that arm and flexes her fingers. "Doctors say I'm back to about ninety percent function."

Chloe touches her own shoulder, thinking on that. Is that what happens when you don't have anyone to watch your back?

"Had to take, well, a couple years to recover after that. Mostly did grifting jobs in the meanwhile."

Chloe grits her teeth. She's not sure what to ask. "Anyone… special? In all that time? Even just a friend?"

The older Chloe laughs. "God, no. You know us. One night stands are easiest. And I've got plenty of friends. No one close, but it's easier that way."

No, Chloe apparently does not "know us". She hasn't had a one night stand in months. It's a dry spell, sure, but she hasn't felt the need for one. As for friends, she's terribly attached to the right people. Nadine, of course, but also Elena. Hell, Elena has been her close friend for a decade, why would Chloe ever abandon that? She's got to ask.

"What about Elena?"

A shrug. "I think I messaged her on her birthday? Not sure. Been a long time since I saw her."

Chloe is at a loss. She has no idea who is at the table with her.

"What have you even been doing for the last years? How could you not talk to _Elena_ of all people? She's been with us through so much, helped us with even more!"

Another noncommittal shrug. "Living? Looking for my next job and rush of adrenaline. Not being tied down? I'm not sure what answer you want. As for Elena, we grew apart. She just got so terribly domestic."

Chloe wants to scream. Was she really this insufferable at some point? Is there really something in her that could result in this outcome? She hates it. Why would she ever choose to forget Nadine? Why would she ever stop being Elena's friend?

"Elena-- of course she's domestic, she's married to Nathan! But she's a good friend and has done more for us, for me, than I ever deserved!" Chloe groans. "How the hell do you survive without someone watching your back?"

The older Chloe frowns. "Getting awfully worked up about this, aren't you?"

Anger floods her, anger she rarely ever faces. Chloe runs cool when it comes to being worked up. But this, this anger at _herself_ , it's justified. Chloe likes to think she knows herself pretty well, but to think she could be so immature, so horrible, so lonely? To have never had Nadine, to lose someone like Elena… What else is wrong here? Are there things she doesn’t have the knowledge to ask about? What next? Is Victor dead? Charlie?

"Maybe you aren't getting worked up enough. Seriously, how-- not a single close friend? I just don't get it."

"Do I need anyone else?"

Chloe stands up and takes a deep breath. "Alright. Whatever. I doubt you have the answer to how I get through to Nadine, so I'm leaving. I just… can't believe I'd ever let myself end up so alone."

With that, she marches out.

She's still angry when she hits the circular room. She can't believe she'd ever let herself get that bad. Sure, it could be worse, but an old woman unwilling to admit she needs anyone? Chloe hates that.

Chloe realizes that maybe it's a memory thing. If that Chloe didn't remember Nadine, never went after the tusk, she hadn't learned what Chloe, the now and present Chloe, had. There's a pride in who she is and how she got there; a pride in her heritage, in her attachment to friends, in her newfound ability to commit. Things she's learned since meeting Nadine and the ways she's grown as a person all relate to how she acts now.

Why is this so difficult?

Chloe just wants to be done. Find whatever might make Nadine hers again.

Instead, she has to choose another door.

Three are open now. The one she's just left is gone and in its place is smooth stone bricks. She hopes that means she can't achieve that future anymore. She doesn't want it.

Of the three doors, one catches her eye. The other side has blue skies and lovely white clouds. The landscape is green and lush. It seems like a place she'd enjoy, so she ignores the other two doors. One is a dimly lit alley, the other a dark tunnel. Far worse than the outdoors she's headed for.

She finds herself on the edge of a mountain cliff. There's a clean wind blowing through the trees nearby. The landscape below is breathtaking. It's the sort of place she'd want to bring Nadine to impress her.

Chloe realizes she's not alone.

Sitting on a log, facing the cliff, is one miss Elena Drake, formerly Elena Fisher. She's dressed for a hike, so it's likely that's how she got up here.

Chloe wonders, briefly, if her thoughts might be influencing what things she sees through these doors. After all, she'd just thought about Elena and now here she was.

The last two, though, Chloe had met herself. Where was she?

"Elena?" Her voice is soft.

Elena starts. She looks over her shoulder and lets out a soft cry. "Chloe?"

"Of course, Sunshine. What are you doing here?"

Elena stands. Faces Chloe.

Chloe spots what's in her hands. It's a deep red urn. The kind a person's ashes are kept in.

Oh.

"I, I…" Elena gulps. "I'm here to spread your ashes."

Chloe had guessed as much.

"I see…"

So this is another possibility? Death? How distant, she wonders. Elena looks nearabouts the age she was not a week ago for Chloe. Maybe a bit older, but not noticeably.

"Can I… can I ask what happened?" Chloe finally says into the air.

"You don't remember?"

"I don't."

Maybe it's better she acts the ghost. The other Chloe's, they knew what was going on. But Elena is at a loss. She doesn't know the Chloe before her is a visitor and nothing more.

"You… you went on a job. It wasn't supposed to be dangerous and, and…" Elena is on the brink of tears. "We don't really know what happened. We think you were ambushed. We just-- we got a call. We were the ones to claim your body."

"Oh, shh, shhh shhh. Sunshine, dearest, it's okay. We…" Chloe has to find words. Something has to make her feel better. Right? "We all go sometime. And you-- you've always been one of my best friends. You helped me so much since we met. And now you've brought my ashes somewhere beautiful. How could I have deserved someone like you?"

That seems to make things worse. Elena lets out a heavy sob. "I miss you. I miss you so much." She sinks back down on the log, gripping the urn in her fingers as though it might disappear.

Chloe doesn't understand it. She'd never thought she'd get this reaction after she died. One or two tears, some drinks in her honour… but here Elena is, sobbing before her.

She moves to sit beside her. Gently, she pries the urn from her hands and sets it on the ground. She tries not to think about how it's her own remains inside. With that done, she pulls Elena against her and simply holds her. This isn't a time for questions or wondering what's happened. If Elena and Nate claimed her body, Nadine isn't around. That's all she needs to know.

"It's okay, Sunshine. It's okay."

"It's not," Elena croaks out. "You're gone."

"Oh, you know I'm hard to get rid of. You forget I'm half Indian. I'll just be reincarnated. You can't get rid of me that easy. I'll hang around you Drakes. No idea what I'll be, but I'll be around."

Elena manages a half chuckle. She gulps before mumbling out, "You really like where we picked?"

"It's beautiful here. I love it."

She looks like she's holding back another sob, but she just hiccups and squeezes her eyes shut. "Nate will be up soon. I went ahead while he picked up camp…"

"I'm flattered you two went through so much trouble for me. It really is wonderful here…"

Elena manages a small smile. "We picked a mountain because of all your climbing. And I remembered you telling me you always wanted a house up in the mountains of Spain."

"One with a big pool and a hot tub," Chloe jokes.

Thankfully, Elena laughs. "Yeah," she says softly. She clings to Chloe, probably afraid she’ll disappear without warning.

But Chloe should leave. She can’t put Elena through worse, but she can try to make it so Elena doesn’t have to feel this way. There’s got to be a way for her to prevent this end, right? She has to get Nadine to remember her. No old alcoholic, no immature excuse for a woman, and no death of mysterious means.

Before she can leave, she has to say something to Elena. Anything, really. She feels guilty Elena is in so much pain over this. Sometimes it’s hard for her to see she has people that care about her.

She should call Elena, once she’s out of this mess.

“Elena, Sunshine, I have to go.” She keeps her voice soft.

“I know.” It’s a bit surprising, but Elena has always been terribly smart, hasn’t she?

Chloe hates doing it, but she pulls away. “Hey, you know… I may have had a crappy relationship with Nate, but at least I got a friend like you out of it, yeah? You were a good influence on me. I promise you, I would’ve been a much worse person without you. So keep being you, okay? And tell Nate if he messes up again, I’ll come back and haunt his ass.”

Elena laughs through her tears. “I will.”

Chloe leans down and kisses her forehead. “I want it to be a long time before you join me on this side of things, okay?”

“Okay.”

There’s more she could say, but she shouldn't. Not right now.

“Goodbye, Elena.”

“Goodbye, Chloe. I’ll miss you.”

There’s no physical door to walk back through, but Chloe can feel it.

Chloe is crying when she lands in the circle of doors.

What is it about this place that it wants her to see these things? Nadine dead, Nadine forgotten, Elena hurt. All horrible possibilities that Chloe wants no part of.

She lets herself sit, needing a moment to clear her head before she tries anything else. She wipes the tears from her eyes and tries to think.

This is ridiculous. She’d been happy, adventuring with Nadine, and she’d enjoyed finding new things with her. Sometimes they would take charity cases, things with very little payout, to help people who’d been fucked over. Other times, they’d dig for long term treasure hunts and rediscover something that hadn’t been seen for decades, maybe centuries.

This damn necklace had been a mistake. “Powers.” Pah. Power to fuck someone over.

Chloe wonders if she has any control in this situation. After all, she’d thought about the possibility of forgetting Nadine and been pulled to a version of herself who had. And then Elena had been on her mind and that’s who she saw next. So if she sits down and thinks on it, will that change the destination of the next door she walks through?

Chloe examines the room again. The door to Nadine is still closed. The blank space of the Chloe that had forgotten Nadine is still there.

No other doors are open.

Maybe… Maybe if she focuses on what she needs, the right door will open.

But what does she need?

Nadine, first off. But what’s the point of going back to that door if she doesn’t have the answer yet?

The answer. That’s what she needs. She needs to focus on that. She needs to find the answer to what will get Nadine to remember her. That’s the only correct path to take, right? Because she doesn’t want to end up a sad excuse for a woman, and forgetting Nadine is completely out of the question. Dying… well, hopefully, that’s out of the question too.

Chloe settles herself into the lotus position, closes her eyes, and clears her mind. She’s done this before. She knows yoga. She centers herself.

That’s all she focuses on, an answer. The answer.

She needs the answer.

When Chloe opens her eyes, there’s only one door open. It’s directly beside the door that leads to Nadine. She can’t see terribly much beyond it besides a messy living room. At least it feels more hopeful than the last ones.

She takes a deep breath and steps through.

The atmosphere is nice here. Sunlight is streaming through the windows so everything has a warm orange glow. There are a few children’s toys on the ground. There aren’t any photos hung around, so Chloe feels like maybe she’s in someone else’s house. She can smell something mouthwatering cooking, but she can’t put a name to it.

There’s a sound as someone enters the room. She turns to see yet another version of her older self. This one doesn’t seem terribly much older, five years at the very most. Her hair is still long and tied back in a messy ponytail. She has no evidence of scars. Very importantly, she’s alive.

One thing startles Chloe beyond belief.

This other her is pregnant.

“Oh. Hey,” the other her greets. “I was wondering when this would happen.”

Chloe is speechless. She had thought she’d be ready for anything, but… _carrying a child?_

“Bit of a shock, huh?” The other Chloe seems amused. “Would it make it better or worse if I told you we planned for this?” She sets a hand on her stomach.

“You… willingly got pregnant?”

Chloe shrugs. “The things you do for love.”

“I-- With who?”

She grins. “Wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise.” Holding up her left hand, she taps the ring there. “That help?”

“No. Bloody hell, that’s scary. Aren’t we supposed to be… I don’t know. Casual? More focused on fun than a relationship? On the next job with Nadine?” Chloe knows she has the ability to commit. It’s not really the marriage that’s scaring her: it’s the marriage _plus_ the pregnancy. She swears, if this other Chloe settled down with some man…

Chloe can’t see that. In any future. Sleeping with a man, sure, but marriage? Ugh.

“Pfft. You’ll get here. Or you won’t. Depends on the choices you make and how well you take the little chat we’re having. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to sit down. My back is killing me.” She makes her way to the couch and sits.

Chloe hesitates but takes a seat as well.

“Alright. Little one is napping and I’m not on dinner duty, so… ask your questions. I’m sure you have plenty.”

Little one? She’s not just pregnant, but already has a child as well? What’s going on? Though that explains the toys on the ground.

Still, Chloe asks the most important question. “Where’s Nadine? Does she… she knows who you-- who I-- Us. She’d recognize us. Right?”

The other Chloe laughs. “Most definitely. You think Chloe Frazer can be forgotten so easily?”

Chloe frowns. “According to the first damn door I walked through, yes.”

The other Chloe winces. “Right. But you’ll figure it out. Probably. Just need the answer.” She leans into the couch and rubs a hand over her baby bump. “She’s got the hiccups. Ugh. Always feels so strange.”

“Hiccups?” She had no idea babies in the womb could get hiccups.

“Yeah, this little one seems to get them once a day. You might experience it someday.”

Chloe purses her lips. It still sounds much less probable than… the path that lead to her death. Or even Nadine forgetting her. But at least Nadine is, apparently, around in this timeline.

With her mind brought back to that, she finds another question.

“What’s the answer?”

“What answer?”

She huffs. “The answer. How I get Nadine to remember me, how I-- listen, I can’t stand the thought of forgetting her, but that path… Nadine was dead. I can’t do that.”

The other Chloe sighs. “You already know the answer.”

That doesn’t make any sense either. Why would she be searching for it if she already knows it? “I don’t follow.”

“Why have you been searching? It’s certainly not “for no reason”. If you didn’t care, you’d have just chosen to forget. Or be forgotten.” She shifts and puts one foot up on the ottoman. “But you’re looking through all these paths for a way to… well, what, exactly?”

That answer she has. “To get back to Nadine.”

“And that’s because?”

Chloe stalls. “She’s my… partner?”

The other Chloe huffs. “Listen. You and I both know Nadine deserves the truth. So that’s your answer. The truth.” She raises an eyebrow. “We both know what happened the last time we lied to her by omission. So if you want her to remember you, you need to tell her the truth. Which, if I remember right, means you’ve got to tell yourself the truth first.”

God, why is future her so insufferable? Can’t she just-- Can’t she just tell her? Let her get out of here? She's better than the lonely Chloe with the short hair, but she's still frustrating Chloe. All she wants is to be back with Nadine.

“Don’t give me that look, kid, if I had to figure it out, so do you. Promise it’s not that hard.”

Chloe groans. “So the first other me tells me Nadine is dead, the second doesn’t remember her, and the third is dead and I have to comfort Elena about it, and now you’re… doing this. Can’t you just tell me what I have to say to her?”

“Hm. Suppose I could, but maybe I want to hope you end up down the path I took. I like where I am, thank you very much. I’m happy.” She shrugs. “If I make you do the same things I had to, maybe I’ll still be here.”

The frown on Chloe’s face grows. “Fine. Don’t tell me. But at least tell me who the hell you married.”

The other Chloe chuckles. She stares at Chloe for a few seconds, as though she expects something to happen, when a voice calls out from the other room.

“Bokkie, dinner is done.”

Chloe whips her head towards the sound. It’s Nadine’s voice.

Oh.

_Oh._

Everything sinks in very quickly. Nadine is this Chloe’s spouse. Nadine is the other half of the “we” the other Chloe had mentioned with the “we planned this pregnancy”. Nadine didn’t forget her. Nadine-- they're together, here. They're married and, and, this other Chloe had said she's happy. She's happy and married to Nadine.

The other Chloe calls back to Nadine. “Be out in a minute, China.” She grins at Chloe. “So? You’ve got to have it now. I happen to know we’re pretty smart.”

“Jesus. You couldn’t just tell me?”

“Where’s the fun in that? Now, I have to go wake up my toddler and get her ready for dinner. You head back into that room with all the doors and tell Nadine, alright?”

Chloe stops her. “Wait.” She doesn’t know how she feels about having kids, not right now. She has no idea. But… it’s less scary if it’s with Nadine. “The… the toddler. What'd you name her?”

“Ah, I’m not giving exacts. But… She’s named after dad.”

Chloe takes a breath and stands. “Gonna be honest. No idea how to handle this information.”

“Eh, you’ll manage. Now get out of here, yeah? I’m going to go eat my wife’s amazing food.”

Chloe feels almost catatonic walking back through the door. It’s only when she’s standing back in the circle of doors that she realizes she still doesn’t know what the answer is.

What the hell is she supposed to say?

She stares at the door she knows will take her to Nadine. There’s still no handle.

Chloe is annoyed and tired and she just… she wants Nadine. She wants Nadine to hold her. She wants to relax and not be in some convoluted and absolutely insane scenario where she can meet other versions of herself.

No price makes that damn necklace worth grabbing. Not with what she’s going through.

But that last door. It hadn’t been bad. She-- She had been married to Nadine. She had a child and another on the way. That should scare her, but it doesn’t. Because she’d been with Nadine.

Nadine has been her partner since India. She’s supported Chloe through difficult choices and done more for her than she deserved. She’s Chloe’s best friend, but not the same way Elena is. It’s different with Nadine. It’s...

She realizes what she’s supposed to say to Nadine. How had she been so stupid?

But if the door won’t open, how is she supposed to say it?

There’s a long creak.

Chloe looks up to the door opening.

Well, that works, she guesses.

She springs forward and crosses the threshold before she can lose her nerve. She doesn’t need to forget Nadine, she doesn’t want Nadine to forget her, and she won’t be dying anytime soon if she has anything to say about it.

No. This has to happen. She has to tell Nadine.

Again, she’s back where she was when she first entered Nadine’s Shoreline office. The desk, the papers, all of it is the same as the first time.

“Nadine.”

Like before, Nadine is startled at the intrusion.

Chloe doesn’t let her get a word in. “Listen, I know you don’t remember me, but just listen. You are my partner and you’ve brought such good into my life and I absolutely cannot stand it if I can’t keep you in my life because some stupid necklace wanted to teach me a lesson about greed or _whatever_.”

Nadine’s jaw drops, but Chloe keeps going.

“I have been through about four different situations that I just do not care for-- well, three. That last one wasn’t horrible. But I digress. I love you, okay Nadine? I had to dig to find that because sometimes I’m a bit thick and like to pretend I don’t get attached like that. Alright? I love you. I love your animal facts, the way you can take a gun apart blindfolded and put it back together, and the way you put your hand on the small of my back to guide me through a door. I, I love when you do that, that thing where you think I might be in danger so you step between me and whatever you think is a threat-- which really isn’t okay, I don’t want you getting hurt either-- but I love it and I love you.”

Finally, she stops and looks at Nadine.

“Chloe.”

Remembering her name has _got_ to be a good sign.

Before Chloe can realize it’s happening, Nadine pulls her into a hug. Chloe is ready to feel that warmth; she closes her eyes and leans into it. But instead of the firm, muscled body of her partner, she feels as if she’s passing through one of the doors again.

She opens her eyes.

Chloe finds herself standing outside the building, barely more than the ruins of a lighthouse, that she had been in with Nadine. The one they’d found the necklace in.

Chloe bursts through the doors and finds a rather panicked Nadine standing by the pedestal the necklace is on.

“Chloe-- I-- but you were just right here. In front of me. How did you--?”

Chloe ignores what she’s saying and blurts out, “I love you.”

Nadine turns bright red. “Chloe,” she murmurs.

“I, I realize you may not feel the same, but I do. I just wanted to tell you. So there.”

Chloe gulps but follows it with a deep breath. Maybe she shouldn’t have said it with so little tact. She definitely could have led with more… seduction. Maybe ask her out or something. But at least she’d said it.

“I do feel the same,” Nadine manages. “I do. I just… Chloe. What happened?”

Chloe launches forward and finally gets the hug she’d wanted. She clings to Nadine and presses little kisses to her cheeks. “That--” kiss “bloody” kiss “necklace” kiss “decided to" kiss " _torture_ me.”

That proves to be poor wording, as Nadine panics and pulls back some. “What?” With her face flushed, her hair askew, and her puzzled look, Chloe just wants to kiss her more.

Chloe sighs. “It’s a terribly long story and I’d rather tell it back at our hotel room, or at the very least on the way to our hotel room. I find kissing you senseless and being held for as long as you can possibly stand a much higher priority.”

Nadine is still bright red. She’s smiling, but she has a dazed look on her face as if she isn’t sure how this is happening. “Alright. But… you’re okay?”

Chloe hums out a soft “mhmm” before kissing Nadine properly. When they part, she harrumphs. “Let’s head back so you can hold me for an inadvisable amount of time while I tell you the ridiculousness I just experienced. And then… tomorrow, I need to call Elena.”

Nadine lets herself be pulled out of the building by Chloe. “What about the necklace?”

“Leave it. It's not worth the trouble.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> Shout out to anyone who watches SU and knew what the Answer was well before Chloe did.


End file.
